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Thomas Law 




A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



BY 



ALLEN G CLARK 



Washington, D. C. 
Press of W. F. Roberts 

1900 



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P. 

27 '00 



-THOMAS LAW 




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

of 

THOMAS LAW 



IN INDIA. 

SEVENTEEN years since appeared in The Washington Post 
a series entitled "Washington Rambles" dealing with 
the pioneers and promoters of the Capital City. Re- 
markably racy and readable were these articles, and their news 
surprising and startling. Perhaps the new incidents were 
necessary to sustain the spicy style; surely, they moved the 
descendants to denial and dissent. I was curious to identify 
"Nemo." To several I made this inquiry: Do you know the 
author? and this uniform answer I received "Yes, sir; I do; 
I am." 1 regret I cannot to the author with certainty express 
the pleasure I had in his VII Ramble, with its flippant headline 
"The Elegant Tom Law — Warren Hasting's Secretary— All 
the Way from India." 

I deem that research which embraces the biographies of the 
original owners and the initiatory investors not only interesting 
but important. The original proprietors and early speculators 
of the Federal City were men, unexceptionally, of strong men- 
tality and striking traits; their faith exceeded the scriptural 
mustard seed, and their financeering eclipsed everything before 
and has its only parallel in the Mississippi System. John Law '^ ' ' 
and Thomas Law were not of the same kindred; however, 
there is similarity in their careers. Both heavily speculated on 
phenomenal appreciation in the New World, both swayed 



THOMAS LAW- 



multitudes, both rose to affluence, both died in comparative 
indigence. 

J^have read several articles with the title "Thomas Law" 
which can be classified either as biography or fiction, being a 
jumble of fact and falsity. I propose to present nothing which 
has not unimpeachable verification. Mrs. Charlotte Rogers 
Smith, of Baltimore, the great-granddaughter of Law, has 
inherited his documents and correspondence, and to her I 
acknowledge indebtedness for accurate dates and details, also 
for the likenesses of Mr. and Mrs. Law. 

Thomas Law was a man of merit and manners. Corre- 
sponding with his elegance in mien was his graceful letter- 
writing. His writings on moral philosophy prove profound 
thought, on economics evince wide learning. In his days of 
prosperity he lavished hospitality, in his days of misfortune, he 
bestowed in the same spirit. Of money, he cared naught, 
save to serve others. One familiar with his history will think 
of him as a bold speculator, more as a savant, pre-eminently, 
the gentleman. 

Thomas Law, sixth son of Rt. Rev. Edmund Law, D.D., 
Lord Bishop of Carlisle, and Mary, daughter of John Christian 
of Ewanrige in Cumberland, was born October 23, 1756, at 
Cambridge, England, and christened at Little St. Mary's, Cam- 
bridge. Concurrence of every advantage presaging good for- 
tune had he in his birth. The Law family was notable. The 
father was a man of learning and letters whose doctrinal ideas 
expressed in his writings excited controversy. 

Mr. Law's brothers and sisters were: 

John, born 1745, Bishop of Clonfert in 1782, translated to Killala in 
1787 and to F.lphin in 1795. 

Edward, born 1750, was the leading counsel for the defendant in the 
Warren Hasting's trial and had as antagonists that galaxy of luminaries 
of law and letters: Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Grey and Francis; his signal 
triumph resulted in his selection as Attorney-General in 1801 and the 
customary honor of Knighthood. In the following yeai was made Lord 
Chief Justice and elevated to the peerage as Baron Ellenborough of Ellen- 
borough Co., Cumberland. A title derived from the ancient patrimony 
of his grandmother's family. 

George Henry, D.D., born 1761, Bishop of Chester in 1812, translated 
to Bath and Wells in 1824. 

Ewan, married eldest daughter of Archbishop of York. 

Mary, married Rev. James Stephen Lushington. 

Johanna, married Sir Thomas Rumbold, Baronet. 



-THOMAS LAW 



Culture the family had, and that concurrent, essential to con- 
tentment, wealth. Thomas Law, in his will dated 1832, says : 
" Happily my relations are above any aid from me." I think 
he had in mind his nephew in England, Edward, first earl of 
Ellenborough, who then, in a life position, clerk of the Queen's 
bench, drew annually ^"7,000. A rich office without work 
seems conducive to longevity as the Earl did not succumb 
until he had drawn ^400,000. 

It has been in print that Law was the private secretary of 
Lord Hastings, that in this capacity he was peculiarly qualified 
to know and to testify of his chiefs methods ; that the King 
summoned him to speedily appear at the trial in England. 
That Law forthwith in compliance with the royal mandate con- 
verted his assets into cash and packed his belongings into his 
trunks. That suddenly he detected his system had been im- 
paired by India's torrid rays and he decided America was the 
haven of health, likewise an escape from his benefactor's be- 
trayal. Or he got so twisted he thought the King's subpoena 
to come to England was an invitation to go to America. 

I can state with confidence that Law was not secretary to 
Lord Hastings nor connected with him in any confidential 
capacity. Law's narratives of his career in India makes only 
one mention of Hastings, and that casual. Hastings embarked 
for England in 1785 and the preliminaries of the impeachment 
began in 1786. Law went directly to England and engaged 
himself in a treatise on India. In the preface he says: "Ini79i 
sickness compelled me to relinquish my station and since my 
arrival in England," etc. A copy is lodged in the Library of 
Congress ; its title page reads : A Sketch of Some Late 
Arrangements and a View of the Rising Resources in Ben- 
gal. By Thomas Law. LoAe a Member of the Council of 
Revenue in Fort William. London, John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 
MDCCXCIL The book has marginal lead pencil notes ex- 
planatory of the Indian terms in the handwriting of Mr. Law. 

Mr. Law was defamed and derided in his lifetime. Sneers 
and slanders contained in a criticism of Faux's Memorable Days 
in America called forth A Reply to Certain Insinuations Pub- 
lished as an Article i?i the Fifty-eighth Number of the Qitarterly 



THOMAS LAW- 



Review, by Thomas Law, Washington, 1824.. To this publi- 
cation I owe specially account of Mr. Law's life in India. 

From motives prompted by patriotism and local pride the 
sympathies will be with Mr. Law in the controversy when it 
appears The Review applauds and amplifies such comments as : 

Fools must not come, for Americans are naturally cold, jealous, suspicious and 
knavish, have little or no sense of honor, believing every man a rogue until they 
see the contrary. 

There is, indeed, a something in a real upright and downright honest John 
Bull that cannot be found in the sly, say-nothing, smiling, deep-speculating, 
money-hunting Jonathans of this all-men-are-born-equally-free-and-independent, 
negro-driving, cow-skin republic. 

There is a national church liturgy in England, and if ever there should be one 
adopted here the following, I think, ought to form part of it: 

Money, money, is all our cry, 

Money, the total sum! 
Give us money or else we die; 

O let thy money come. 

The (Washington) streets are a mile or two in length, with houses a quarter 
of a mile apart, beautified by trees and swamps and cows grazing between. At 
first view, a stranger might suppose that some convulsion of nature had swept 
away whole streets and laid waste the far-famed metropolitan city. 

All the bogs and swamps in and round the city are full of melody, from the 
big bellowing bullfrog, down to the little singing mosquito ; while rotten 
carcasses and other nuisances perfume the warm southern breeze. 

The prefatory paragraph of Law's reply, 1 in part quote : 

An accumulation of domestic afflictions that I had suffered, aggravated by the 
common casualties of life, incident to its decline had shaken the frame of my 
constitution. Weary, therefore, of the cares and bustle of busy society, yet 
neither unsolicitous nor unoccupied for its welfare, 1 had sometime since retired 
from the city into the country. In such retirement one of my first employments 
was to select from a mass of written documents a few letters and communi- 
cations on public affairs during my residence in India, which afford evidence of 
what I did in that country. These memoranda, thus brought together, I had 
packeted, indulging a natural desire that after my death an only surviving son 
might peruse them with gratifying tenderness. It is the privilege of a sufferer to 
complain, and whenever a character is assailed it may be fairly and firmly 
sustained without involving its advocate in the imputation of vanity and 
arrogance. To vindicate aspersed merit or insulted integrity is a duty that I 
owe both to the dead and the living, and, in the discharge of it, I shall not, 
I trust, however excited by aggression, at once unprovoked and unprincipled, 
forget to exercise that mild spirit of Christian forbearance and charity which the 
best of fathers so well remembered taught both by precept and example. Under 
such peculiar circumstances egotism will not, I trust, be imputed to me, if, when 



-THOMAS LAW 



driven by slander into refutations of it — by statements of opposite complexion — 
I prematurely publish testimonials, which otherwise, delicacy might have 
prevented me from causing to be circulated in my lifetime. 

The Review thus speaks of Law's conduct and character: 

This gentleman accumulated (it is not said by what means) an immense 
fortune in India, where by his own account he was a most important personage: 
*' Why, sir, I once, with Lord Cornwallis, governed India. Ego et rex mens." 
He talks with the greatest composure of having carried away an hundred 
thousand guineas. 

Mr. Law says: 

I arrived in Bengal at the age of seventeen, in the capacity of writer, an office 
which is introductory to employment in the civil service of the East India Com- 
pany. After serving the usual term of noviciate in this station I successively 
passed through the various grades of promotion until I was chosen member of 
the Revenue Board at Hoagley. I was next appointed judge of Patna; but this 
office, after holding it for a short time, I thought proper to resign. At the age 
of twenty-seven 1 attained promotion to the collectorship of Bahar. Shortly 
afterwards the number of these collectors was curtailed; and inasmuch as I had 
been the last collector appointed, I had good reason to expect that my office 
would be abolished. Government, however, for causes publicly assigned, chose 
to retain me. 

The office of collector, in which, at this early age, I was retained, was cer- 
tainly of a more responsible and important nature than the name would indicate, 
since with the fiscal duties of a revenue officer was blended in cases both civil 
and criminal the judicial and executive functions of chief magistrate; and this, 
too, over a district containing more than two million souls. 

Gya, the capital of Bahar, was venerated by the Hindoos 
as is Mecca by the Mahometans. Pilgrims had formerly re- 
sorted to it from all parts of India, but onerous exactions 
deterred them from fulfilling this religious usage. A modera- 
tion of the tax through Law's persuasion so increased the 
number of pilgrims the revenues realized were even larger, for 
which he received congratulatory and compensatory recogni- 
tion from the Board of Control at London. 

So popular was Law's administration upon his retirement he 
received at Calcutta a letter dated July 12, 1790, enclosing this 

ADDRESS: 

The just Judge and beneficent Magistrate, Mr. Thomas Law, who during six 
years presided over the district of Bahar, having in his excellent administration 
displayed the most laudable qualities, and performed the most praiseworthy 
actions; having studied the welfare of all ranks of people, distinguishing the 



THOMAS LAW 8 



liberal and noble, rendering justice to the oppressed, and cherishing the afflicted; 
giving ease and satisfaction to all; shewing natural goodness and acquired 
virtues in his conduct, to the high and to the low, to the rich and to the poor; 
treating all with kindness, and receiving from all a good name, whereby the 
happiness of the people and the prosperity of the country were promoted: We 
therefore, with one voice, and one mind, of our free will and accord, make the 
following declaration: That we, all of us, are, in every respect, satisfied with, 
and grateful to, the gentleman above mentioned, and that we regard his admin- 
istration as a blessing to us. Now it happens that this gentleman is about to 
quit our district, and we are, one and all, in the greatest degree afflicted; we 
are impressed with the deepest concern on this account, and having our hands 
lifted up to the Deity, in prayer for his life, prosperity and exaltation; may the 
Almighty God accept our prayers, advance him to the highest dignities, and 
bless him with every enjoyment worldly and heavenly! 

Mr. Law yielded to the entreaties of Marquis Cornwallis, the 
Governor-General, although in declining health, to serve on 
the Revenue Board. This service was short, as his physician 
insisted he must at once embark from Calcutta, which he did, 
January 25, 1791. 

Mr. Law's hobby was the institution of the Mocurrery land 
system. His arguments therefor given in the work on Bengal 
show a knowledge on Indian affairs and a grasp of policy, 
generally, which can only adequately be characterized by such 
descriptives as: complete, consummate. 

Shortly after Mr. Law's return to England, the Board of 
Control adopted his plan. That he is entitled to the sole credit 
for its establishment, these letters indicate: 

14™ April, 1794. 
Dear Law: 

1 read your letter yesterday with concern. But if your resolution is taken it 
will be needless for me to expostulate. You may be assured that I shall never 
cease to acknowledge with gratitude the lights that I have received from you 
respecting the Mocurrery system and permanent settlement; and that you wil 1 
always possess a great share of my regard and esteem. 

Your most faithful friend, 

CORNWALLIS. 

28th March, 1796. 
********! shal] ever wjth grat j tude acknowledge you as 
the founder. 

CORNWALLIS. 

William Duane, a journalist, who figures prominently in the 
early history of our city, was in India at the time of Law's 



-THOMAS LAW 



departure and an eye-witness of the effects of the new land 
system. He writes: 

We have known Mr. Law now more than thirty years. We knew him when 
he was inferior to no man in eminence and in power, the third or fourth in degree 
in a great empire; and this was at a time, too, when, by his own generous 
efforts, pursued with zeal and talent that commanded general admiration and 
esteem, he brought about a revolution, the influence of which now extends to 
one hundred and twenty millions of people, as great in its moral and political 
influence as the extinction of the feudal system. In Hindostan, in the Mogul 
government, the tenure of land was in the emperor, and reverted upon the 
demise of the holder. The afflictions produced by such a system cannot be 
i conceived by those who have not been eye-witnesses of them. Upon the death 
of a zemindar, or landholder, where polygamy prevails, and the children and 
females are numerous, the death of the head of a family, where no provision has 
been otherwise made, cannot be well imagined. Mr. Law, who held the 
government of a rich and populous province, under the Bengal administration, 
proposed what has been called the Mocurrery system, that is, to make land 
personal property, and not to revert to the sovereign. This plan, pursued 
through several years of zeal and devotion to humanity, he accomplished. The 
Norman conquest, the revolution in England of 1688, were great events, and 
they mark epochs in history, and are treated as such; while Mr. Law's revolu- 
tion, without bloodshed, eventually changed the whole moral and social con- 
dition of Hindostan, settled estates in possessors as personal property, and put 
an end to all the calamities which were consequent of the old system; yet the 
event is scarcely heard of; perhaps there are not three men in this country who 
ever heard of it yet." 

The editors of the National Intelligencer, between whom 
and Law was close relationship, state that because of his 
beneficent administration he received the enviable appella- 
tion — "Father of the People." 

That "accomplished man, learned lawyer and excellent 
scholar," Sir William Jones, whom Dr. Johnson styled "the 
most enlighten'd of the sons of men," was an intimate of 
Mr. Law, in India, and presented him with a mourning ring. 
To Mr. Law, Lord Cornwallis gave his miniature, a memorial 
of friendship, a remembrance of by-past association. 

It has been published that Mr. Law was led to come to the 
young republic by his enthusiasm in free institutions and his 
admiration for General Washington. However, the real mo- 
tives he has himself given. Ten thousand pounds, one-fifth 
of the fortune acquired in India, were arrested in his attorney's 
hands by the company's government to satisfy its claim against 



THOMAS LAW 10 



a paymaster for whom he was surety. Law insisted that the 
principal being financially responsible should have been com- 
pelled to pay. This injustice, together with disapprobation of 
the War with France, determined his departure. Mr. Law 
instituted suit for restitution against The East India Company, 
which, when he was a resident of the United States, July 24, 
1799, was decided in his favor. Reported in 4 Vesey, 824. 




V 



ii THOMAS LAW 




IN WASHINGTON. 

IN 1794 Law appeared. He first resided in the city of New 
York. During the year 1795 he made three or more visits 
to the Federal City; and late that year, or early the next, 
came to stay. He put up in Georgetown because, as he says, 
"there was only one little tavern in the city, which then con- 
tained only three or four houses belonging to the owners of 
estates." 

Tom Law, a widower, only thirty-seven, the scion of British 
aristocracy, a lord of India, bright in speech, elegant in manner, 
and handsome, and a plethoric purse withal! Can we imagine 
he was unnoticed ? How the dames with eligible daughters, 
covetous of their worldly welfare, must have manoeuvred, 
and how the belles looked beautiful and tried to do it uncon- 
sciously. It was a short race. Early in 1796 the engagement 
with Eliza' Park Custis was announced, and March 21st, that 
year, the marriage was celebrated. What an auspicious union: 
Miss Custis, a descendant of Lord Baltimore, a granddaughter 
of Mrs. Washington, wife of the first President — to Tom Law, 
paragon of manly perfection. 

The wedding* was at the home of her stepfather, Mr. David 
Stuart, "Hope Park," Virginia, five miles northwest of 
Fairfax Court -House. Miss Custis was born August 21, 
1776, so that the bride and groom were of age nineteen and 
thirty-nine respectively. Mr. Stuart was of the first Board of 
Commissioners for the Federal City, appointed January 22, 1791 ; 
he served three years. 



* On the 20th instant at the seat of David Stewart, Esq., Thomas Law, youngest son of the 
late Bishop of Carlisle, to Miss Custis, granddaughter of the Lady of the President of the United 
States. From Claypole's American Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia, Penn., March 28. 1796. 



THOMAS LAW 12 



A marriage settlement, technically termed, an indenture tri- 
partite, was executed March 19, 1796, between Thomas Law, 
Elizabeth Park Custis, and as trustee, James Barry. Other in- 
dentures tripartite, May 8, 1800, and July 17, 1802, were exe- 
cuted between Mr. and Mrs. Law and their brother-in-law, 
Thomas Peter, substituted trustee, substantially the same as 
the original. In the cause celebre, the chancery suit of Law 
against Adams, executor, involving twenty-five years active 
litigation, the Supreme Court of the United States construed 
these ante and post-nuptial agreements. Mr. Law survived 
Mrs. Law; their only child, Eliza, died before her parents, 
leaving children. The Court decided the expression, "in case 
the said wife shall die in the life-time of her husband, leaving 
issue of said marriage one or more children," defined "issue" 
to be children and that it had no right to extend the meaning 
to include grandchildren. This was not Mr. Law's idea, as 
his will states: "I have settled upon the children of my 
daughter Eliza more than I fear my other grandchildren will 
receive." 

Marital felicity was short -timed. Abroad Mr. Law 
went (1802) and tarried; and when he did return, a mutual 
arrangement, August 10, 1804, was signed and sealed to 
continue "separate and apart" for aye. The direct cause 
of disagreement is not disclosed. The chivalrous Law rightly 
surmised silence would stifle scandal. Surely, honorable in 
this particular he made ample provision for the maintenance 
of his wife by an annuity of fifteen hundred dollars, assumed 
the custody of the daughter, the sole cost of her education 
and support. Time did not cure the bitterness; rather than 
heal the estrangement it aggravated. Mr. and Mrs. Law always 
referred to each other in the third person. With no stranger 
could she have been more formal. She invariably called herself 
Mrs. Custis, and so did he name her, except once,— in the 
publication A Reply to Certain Insinuations. The Quarterly 
Review says: " He married the niece of General Washington, 
and settled on her, at her uncle's urgent request, in case they 
parted, 15,000 dollars a year. Accordingly, as was obviously 
anticipated, at least, on the part of the lady and her friends, 






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13 THOMAS LAW 



she eloped, during his absence, with a young officer in the 
army." Mr. Law indignantly denies and adds "that, although 
a separation did unhappily ensue, originating in a disagreement 
in disposition, yet 1 have always paid tribute correctly due to 
Mrs. Law's purity of conduct, which I never did impeach." 

The annuity was a financial millstone around Law's neck; 
he paid promptly for sixteen years and then in installments 
long apart derived by pledge of property and embarrassing 
expedients. 

Mr. Law had in India two sons, John and Edmund, who 
were sent to England. Upon his marriage to Miss Custis his 
sons came over and lived with them. Edmund never married. 
John married Frances Ann Carter of Virginia; they had two 
sons: Edmund and Thomas. 

Mr. and Mrs. Law had one daughter, Eliza, who married 
Lloyd Nicholas Rogers, of Druid Hill, Baltimore County, 
Maryland. Mrs. Law* died (a few days before Mr. Law's 
return from abroad) on a visit to Richmond, January i, 1832, 
and is buried at Mt. Vernon in the Washington tomb. 

I quote few of the many references to "nabob" Law in 
Travels in America, 100 Years Ago, by Thomas Twining, 
to indicate his cordiality, manner of life, and enthusiasm in the 
American venture: 

Baltimore, 1796. I had not long returned to my own room after breakfast 
this morning before I was told that a gentleman had called upon me and was 
waiting in the passage below. When I was within a few steps of the bottom 
of the stairs, a gentleman advanced hastily to meet me, and taking me warmly 
by the hand, said : " I am sure you are Mr. Thomas Twining, you are so like 
your father." This unceremonious stranger was Mr. Law, just arrived from 
Washington. 1 took him into a parlor on the ground floor and there we had a 
long conversation about India, where he still had many friends. 

25th April. Mr. and Mrs. Law set out in their chariot and four horses for 
Washington. I had not seen such an equipage in America. They invited me to 
accompany them, but besides my unwillingness to add to their inconvenience on 
the bad roads they had to travel, I had some engagements which prevented my 
leaving Baltimore until the next day. 

27th. Mr. Law sent a servant to Georgetown with my horse, with direc- 
tions to bring back my portmanteau. 



* At Mr. J. A. Chevallie's in Richmond, Va., on Saturday night, Mrs. Eliza Park Custis, 
granddaughter of the late Mrs. General Washington, aged 55.— Daily National Intelligencer, 
January 7, 1832. 

Our respected fellow-citizen Thomas Law, Esq., arrived in this city yesterday, via New York, 
from a visit to Europe.— Daily National Intelligencer \ January 10, 1832. 



THOMAS LAW- 



In the evening, Miss Wescott, of Philadelphia arrived. Though possessing 
a sort of celebrity for her talents and literary attainments, her manners were par- 
ticularly unaffected and agreeable. 

28th. Spent the day with Mr. Law's family. Monsieur Talleyrand, Ex- 
Bishop of Autun, whom the hostility of parties in France had driven across the 
Atlantic was expected from Philadelphia, but much to my regret did not come. 

29th. Mr. and Mrs. Law took me in their carriage this forenoon to introduce 
me to Mr. Lear and his family, residing near Georgetown. * * * * 

Miss Custis, sister of Mrs. Law, arrived. A letter from Monsieur Talleyrand 
announced that he was under the necessity of deferring his visit. •* * * 

1st May. Although Mr. Law seemed satisfied with his new situation, hav- 
ing a companion with whom a man might be happy anywhere, I could not 
but be surprised at the plan of life he had chosen. The clearing of ground and 
building of small houses, amongst the woods of the Potomac, seemed an uncon- 
genial occupation for a man of so accomplished a mind, and whose former 
habits and employment had been so different. As chief of a large district in 
Bengal he had been accustomed to the discharge of important official functions, 
and to the splendor and consequence of a prince. In England his family was 
opulent and distinguished. One brother was bishop of Carlisle, another was a 
barrister of the first eminence, and the successful defender of Mr. Warren Hast- 
ings against the political influence of Fox, the eloquence of Sheridan, and the 
virulence of Burke. America, of all countries, seemed the least suited to the 
activity or leisure of such a person. Here almost everyone was engaged either 
in politics or speculative enterprise. But as a foreigner, and particularly as an 
Englishman, Mr. Law could never possess any political weight in the country; 
and his inexperience in commercial affairs, amidst rivals so experienced and intel- 
ligent, might expose him to litigation and disappointment, and involve a con- 
siderable diminution of his fortune. One anticipation in which he indulged, 
with great confidence and satisfaction, was that other East-Indians would join 
him; and he hoped, 1 was sorry to see, that I might return to Bengal with im- 
pressions tending to encourage this migration. As we stood one evening on the 
bank of the river before his door, he said: " Here I will make a terrace, and we 
will sit and smoke our hookahs." 



To locate the site of Mr. Law's residence we have only to 
give heed to Mr. Twining's intelligent and circumstantial nar- 
ration. Mr. Twining's journey horseback from the Capitol to 
Mr. Law's house through a wilderness was generally in a 
southwest direction or on the line of Delaware Avenue. Mr. 
Twining says: "His (Law's) house, built by himself, was 
only a few yards from the steep bank of the Potomac, and 
commanded a fine view across the river, here a half a mile 
wide. * * * * The position was at least favorable, being 
on a point of land between the Potomac and a tributary stream 
called 'the eastern branch,' thus offering a double water front." 




MR. LAW'S RESIDENCE 
;th and n streets southwest 



-THOMAS LAW 



And, "a little below the point on which Mr. Law's house 
stood, after the junction of the eastern branch, the river was 
nearly a mile in width." These descriptions identify the gen- 
eral location — on Greenleaf Point and immediately north of the 
Arsenal Grounds. The court, tax and state records indicate 
the exact location — square 502. 

That the mansion at the northeast corner of Sixth and N 
Streets S. W. is Mr. Law's first residence and where he enter- 
tained Mr. Twining, the corroborating circumstances, in my 
opinion, are conclusive. At that time the mansion was about 
fifty yards* from the high bank of the Potomac; then and a 
long period after, it was the only house in the vicinity fronting 
the river. No other was nearly so close to it. Besides it was 
the only house apart; the other expensive buildings were in 
rows. A history of old houses in southwest Washington 
states that Law built the house; this is a traditional error; yet 
confirms the fact that he did occupy it. 

Twining says that it was built by Law, and that "in the 
rear of the house" he "was building a street, consisting of 
much smaller houses than his own," referring, of course, to 
Union Street. Twining surely misunderstood. Law did not 
build the mansion, nor the small houses. In the chancery 
causes are schedules, in great particularity prepared by Law, 
of all his improvements. The syndicate, Morris, Nicholson 
and Greenleaf owned the property, Law had a blanket mort- 
gage covering it. Morris Nicholson and Greenleaf were the 
landlords, Law the tenant. On September 17, 1796, Morris 
and Nicholson wrote Law: "We willingly agree rent shall 
cease when you moved out and not continue either to the 
expiration of the time you took it for or when you delivered 
up the key." The property was sold under decree in Pratt 
et al vs. Law et al to Richard Bland Lee, who occupied it. 

The East Washington Citizens Association in the beginning 
of the century was exceedingly active and alert, and could 
readily detect favoritism to the West End although at that 



* Dermott's Tin Case Map, 1803. 



THOMAS LAW 16 



time there was only one member. I quote from the unpub- 
lished notes of Mr. Law: 

Being now the oldest inhabitant it may be useful to give a brief history of 
the city since my arrival here. The legislature of Maryland had started a bank 
for the city, but it was established in George Town and the money loaned was 
to those who would build in the Town or at the West End of the city. A 
bridge was built also by the Commissioners at the city expense over Rock 
Creek with a draw, and it was to have the Navy Yard there and the Marine 
barracks were laid out on its banks and the marine corps encamped there. 

The President's house was advanced rapidly and the Capitol was only above 
ground and the foundation was so bad that it was to be undone and commenced 
again. In short Mr. Stoddert, Secretary of Navy, and the majority of the Com- 
missioners and the bank being George Town men, resolved to have Congress 
meet in the President's House or in George Town College and to make the pro- 
gress of the West End tend to counteract that of the Capitol. 

General Washington having been informed of these injurious ideas in the 
Commissioners and being displeased at witnessing the slow advancement of the 
Capitol ordered the Commissioners to live in the city and to encourage persons 
to build for the accommodation of Congress. 

And Mr. Law further says: 

That the public might have encouragement to build, General Washington 
commenced two houses.* This example gave confidence and houses 
were seen to spring up with rapidity, notwithstanding the natural rival- 
ship of two adjacent towns, which had been long before established. New 
Jersey Avenue, then full of stumps of trees, was opened to have access to the 
Eastern Branch, and merchants made wharves and warehouses on the Eastern 
Branch, where only there is a harbor safe from the danger of ice which comes 
down by floods in the Potomac. Houses also rapidly sprang up about the 
Capitol although double prices were paid for workmen, bricks and materials. 

From Law's answer, Pratt et al vs. Law et al: 

Had it not been for his (Law's) exertions and the large sums he had laid out, 
there would have been no accommodation for Congress the first year of their 
session. 

Law to Greenleaf, January 8, 1795, wrote : " You may say 
that I had rather sell my horses or books or anything rather 
than part with a foot at present of Washington City;" and not 
many months later his extravagant enthusiasm was centered on 
his chosen section : 

July 4th 1795 
Dear Greenleaf 

You have a Copy of my two Lres to the Commissioners, six squares they pro- 
mised to convey to me & I was promised an answer in two days to the Lre I 
addressed respecting the Wharf &c but I have not yet been favored with an 



* That is— in the vicinity of the Capitol. Were built where is now the Hillman House, North 
Capitol Street. 



-THOMAS LAW 



answer. Barry is urgent — he wants to erect a store & to purchase grain & to 
build a ship — I mean to set up an agency house with him from East India Com- 
missions in short I wish to benefit myself by promoting the City. Have I been 
wanting in respect or in attentions — my style is not harsh my request not immo- 
derate — Yet not a line I received from them — Do not the Commissioners in their 
agreements with you strictly require you not to sell before Jany 1796 with* stipu- 
lations for buildings — who however will build without titles. 

******** 

The City can only be made by the Eastern Branch. The President himself 
when he sees all that has hitherto been done will feel how much that part of the 
City has been overlooked * * * he will blush when he perceives where the 
Commissioners have made their Wharf— in short he will order some measures to 
be adopted to let the City branch out from the proper root — the Eastern Branch. 



Pray remb to have the Post Office established at the Capitol. 

* * * Carroll altho' enfeebled with age was the most zealous & active of 

the three — but no more of this. I am heartily tired of murmurs to you who 

must be sufficiently chagrined — harmony & union can do great things — they 

however cannot exist whilst the com mr s reside West of the President's House. 

YrsSy 

THOMAS LAW. 

In 1804 appeared Mr. Law's Observations on the Intended 
Canal in Washington City. It was his idea to extend naviga- 
tion through the city from the Potomac to deep water of the 
Eastern Branch, thereby avoiding ' ' the circuitous and hazardous 
route by Turkey Buzzard point " and advancing magnetically 
commercial prosperity. In 1809 on the lines he suggested a 
company was incorporated. This refers to the Washington 
City Canal. Mr. Law insistently urged before Congress con- 
cession for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal; and made 
"proposition for creating means for commencing" the con- 
struction, 1827. 

From the burning of the Capitol, August 24, 1814, and the 
War and Navy Departments the following day, and other 
havoc to public and private property by the British under 
direction of General Ross and Admiral Cockburn a serious 
question arose: whether the buildings should be reconstructed 
at all. The city's growth had been slow; at that date there 
were only fifteen hundred houses and next to nothing had been 



THOMAS LAW- 



accomplished in the improvement of the thoroughfares. Con- 
gress was convened. A strong party inveighed against Wash- 
ington; arguments of the original opponents were reinforced 
by the city's poor progress. In the balance, swaying up and 
down, was removal against permanency. These were days 
of anxious suspense to the citizens. Thomas Law, by the use 
of his diplomacy and his influential acquaintanceship, by his 
pen and by his purse, by his ceaseless energy wrought the 
retention of the National Capital at the city of Washington. 

LETTER TO PRESIDENT MADISON. 
Sir: 

When I heard of the conflagration of the Capitol and so forth, I indulged the 
belief that a temporary misfortune would be converted to a benefit and that I 
should have the satisfaction of witnessing prosperity here dated from your 
administration of government. 

The enclosed proposition I submit to your perusal with all deference, in it, I 
have considered the claims of the heads of departments, whose salaries are now 
so inadequate to the expenses of their dignified station and I have adverted also 
to the convenience and interest of all concerned. 

Lord Kaimes sagaciously remarks that "rough uncultivated ground dismal to 
the eye inspires peevishness and discontent " and I have long attributed much of 
the discord in Congress to causes arising in this city from distance of residence, 
want of social amusements and confinement together, where dissatisfaction is 
engendered and dissensions produced. 

I have also long apprehended that parsimony and neglect exhibited in this city 
would tend to deceive foreign governments into contempt of the national spirit 
productive of insults and injuries till insupportable and that foreign ministers also 
under impressions received here must convey unfavorable intimations from what 
daily could not escape their notice. 

These sentiments 1 communicated to many frequently and as they have been 
verified I hope to be pardoned the liberty of repeating them, with the sincere 
desire to see every edifice arise with superior convenience and splendor. 

What now remains of empires fallen but a few monuments of former grandeur. 
What is the glory of Great Britain but her universities, hospitals and public 
endowments. 

It may be urged that General Washington recommended a university and 
military school in vain; the opprobium of neglect remains with Congress, and 
regrets now arise for inattention to his advice and a disposition prevails to re-erect 
the public buildings and to establish institutions which will be a lasting honor to 
this government. 

Every individual citizen who shall behold them will feel his bosom swell with 
exultation and exclaim "this is ours" and thus identify himself with his 
nation. 



ig THOMAS LAW 



Any recommendation you make, Sir, at this crisis would be adopted, as a 
general inclination prevails not only to do away causes of complaint but to pro- 
mote the permanent seat of government. 

May you, Sir, when you retire to enjoy in private the contemplation of your 

numerous services, have the satisfaction of seeing the Constitution you so much 

promoted preserved from external assault and internal undermining and every 

prosperity in this Metropolis bearing the name of the revered Hero, Statesman 

and Patriot — Washington. 

I remain 

With unfeigned 

Esteem, regard and respect 

Yr. mt. ob. servant, 

Novr. 26th, 1814. THOS. LAW. 

In the Washington Centennial Exhibition at the Library of 
Congress, now in progress (December, 1900), is a copy of the 
petition of the committee, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, 
Thomas Law and Frederick May, appointed at a general meet- 
ing of the citizens held on Capitol Hill, to John P. Van Ness, 
Richard Bland Lee and Tench Ringgold, the Commissioners 
appointed to superintend the re-erection of public buildings 
destroyed by the British, 1814, together with the original letter 
of Mr. Law to President Madison transmitting it; also, auto- 
graph draft of the President's answer. The purport of the 
petition is the erection of an edifice on Capitol Hill, wherein 
Congress could assemble while the Capitol was rebuilding. 

Thomas Law,* Daniel Carroll of Duddington, and other 
public-spirited citizens, with utmost expedition, subscribed the 
funds and erected a suitable building, which they offered to 
Congress. And with like promptness did Congress act. It 
took possession of the new "Capitol" immediately upon 
completion (December 13, 1815), and, upon the terms pro- 
posed, authorized the President to lease for one year, and 
"thence until the Capitol is in a state of readiness for the 
reception of Congress." It was not until December 7, 1819, 
that Monroe could say to Congress "I offer you my sincere 



* Paul Jennings, the colored body-servant of James Madison, says: The next summer (1815) 
" Mr. John Law, a large property-holder about the Capitol, fearing it would not be rebuilt, got up 
a subscription and built a large brick building (now called the Old Capitol, where the Secesh 
prisoners are now confined), and offered it to Congress for their use till the Capitol should be 
rebuilt. This coaxed them back, though strong efforts were made to move the seat of government 
North ; but the Southern members kept it here." — The National Capitol, Its Architecture, 
Art and History, by George G. Hazleton,Jr, 



THOMAS LAW 20 



congratulation upon the recommencement of your duties in 
the Capitol." 

It has been claimed that Law "was head and shoulders 
above every other original proprietor and early speculator ; " 
that he " secured the permanence of the Capitol in the old 
times, by the same means Alex. Shepherd assured its stability 
in our days." Although Mr. Law was an educator and did so 
much for the city, no school or other institution bears his name, 
but do of others who to him in calibre were as pygmies to a 
colossus. 

Mr. Law wrote on current topics under the pseudonym 
" Homo " for the National Intelligencer. The initial issue of 
this paper (October 31, 1800) was printed in a house of Mr. 
Law's on New Jersey Avenue. I have seen verses of Mr. 
Law's drawn from what he styled his "poetical ludibria." 
Some of his papers read to the Columbian Institute on the 
national currency, the national banking system and the public 
debt were published. In everything he seems decades in 
advance of his contemporaries. In one of his letters he pre- 
dicts the result of slavery will be civil war. He learnedly dis- 
cussed the cultivation of the soil, very likely, more from a 
theoretical than a practical viewpoint, with the Agricultural 
Society of Prince George's County, of which he was the 
inspiring spirit. 

The National Museum is the outgrowth of the Columbian 
Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences.* The Institute 
was originated by Mr. Law and Dr. Edward Cutbush. The 
date of its first meeting is June 28, 1816; its charter by Con- 
gress, April 20, 1818. The second article of its constitution 
states: " The Institute shall consist of mathematical, physical, 
moral and political sciences, general literature and fine arts." 

A compilation of Mr. Law's publications as far as known to 
writer : 

1792. Sketch of some late arrangements and a review of the rising resources of 

Bengal. London, 1792. 8 vo. Lib. Cong. 
1794. On Bengal, etc. Perhaps another ed. of that printed in 1792. Quoted 

by Allibone. 



* Report of the National Museum, 1891. The Genesis of the National Museum, pp. 274-280. 



-THOMAS LAW 



1804. Observations on the intended canal in Washington City. Anon. Wash- 
ington, 1804. pp. 24, 8 vo. Lib. Cong. 

1806. Ballston Springs. A poem. New York, 1806. Boston Ath. 

1813. Moral Impulses. Philadelphia. 

1820. Remarks on the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, March 1, 1819. 
Wilmington, 1820. 8 vo. Boston Ath. 

1824. A reply to certain insinuations, published as an article in the sixty-eighth 

number of the Quarterly Review. Washington, 1827. pp. 1-27, 
8 vo. Lib. Cong. 

1825. Address before the Columbian Institute. Washington, 1825. 8 vo. Bos- 

ton Ath.; Lib. Cong. 

1826. Considerations tending to render the policy questionable of plans for 

liquidating, within the next four years, of the 6 per cent, stock of the 
United States. Washington, S. A. Elliott, 1826. pp. 22, 8 vo. Lib. 
Cong.; Boston Ath. 

1827. Thomas Law (and others). Report of the proceedings of the committee 

appointed in Washington in 1824 to present a memorial to Congress, 
praying for the establishment of a national currency. Washington : 
Way and Gideon, 1824. pp. 40, 8 vo. Lib. Cong. ; Boston Ath. 

1827. Propositions for creating means for commencing the Chesapeake and Ohio 

Canal, with repoit of committee thereon. Washington, 1827. 1 folio 
sheet, Lib. Cong. 

1828. Address to the Columbian Institute on a moneyed system. Washington, 

1828. 8 vo. Lib. Cong. ; Boston Ath. 
1830. Address to the Columbian Institute on the question, " What ought to be 

the circulating medium of a nation ? " Washington, 1830. 8 vo. Lib. 

Cong. ; Boston Ath. 
1833. Synopsis of a plan for a national currency. Washington, 1833. pp.16, 

8 vo. Lib. Cong. 
1833. A plan for one uniform circulating medium, etc., Anon, Washington, 

about 1833. pp. 4, 8 vo. Lib. Cong. 

Law speculated on his own pounds sterling, most of the 
other operators on credit. The principal transaction was upon 
"sight unseen;" in the city of New York, with city map and 
winning words, Greenleaf fired Laws' enthusiasm and opened 
wide his purse strings. The transaction was that of December 3, 
1794, when Robert Morris, John Nicholson and James Greenleaf 
gave him their bond with condition to convey in fee simple 
within ninety days 2,400,000 sq. ft., Law having paid them five 
pence Pennsylvania currency per sq. ft. for the same or in our 
standard about $137,500. On the day following an agreement 
was executed by which Morris, Nicholson and Greenleaf cove- 
nanted that if Law within eighteen months should be displeased 
with his purchase, the consideration would be returned with 



THOMAS LAW 22 



interest; and Law covenanted that if within that time he de- 
termined to keep the land he would within four years from 
time of such determination cause to be built on every third lot, 
or in that proportion, one brick building at least two stories 
high. On March 10, 1795, Law made the purchase absolute 
and Morris Nicholson and Greenleaf agreed that Law could 
select under the contract of December 4, from any squares in 
which they had right of selection and also agreed to mortgage 
to Law other squares which were in their possession until they 
could give him good title to such property as he might select. 
Pursuant to this last agreement September 4, 1795, the mortg- 
age was executed. Law received nearly 2,000,000 sq. ft. but 
before Morris Nicholson and Greenleaf could perfect title to the 
balance of Law's selection, they made an assignment, June 
26, 1797, to Pratt and others, trustees. 

The entanglements of this transaction and its ramifications 
was solved in the celebrated cause, Pratt et al vs. Law et al. It 
occupies 45 pp. of the U. S. Supreme Court report. Mr. Justice 
Johnson who delivered the opinion speaks of it as "intricate 
and voluminous," and of "the formidable bulk of 900 folios!" 

The trustees contended that Law had failed to comply with 
the covenant to build on every third lot or in that proportion 
and that the failure was to their detriment. However the 
court decided that Law was not restricted to specific lots on 
which to build; his choice, therefore, extended over the whole 
and the obligation was not complete until the whole was con- 
veyed to him; and that, Law was originally induced to enter 
into the stipulation in consideration of similar stipulations by 
Morris Nicholson and Greenleaf with the Commissioners and 
that their failure was an excuse in part for desisting in building 
In this litigation, Mr. Law was ably represented by his son, John. 

Law, I believe, was the only lot purchaser who complied with 
the building requirements on an extensive scale. Controversy 
arose between the Commissioners and Law who contended 
more stories and larger area covered entitled to a concession in 
the number of houses. President Washington, the last day of 
his administration March 3, 1797, decided in favor of Mr. Law 
with an expression of reluctance. 



23 THOMAS LAW 



Law decided to build on either side of New Jersey Avenue 
from the Capitol to the Potomac. The solidity of his structures 
is shown by the fact they stand to day apparently of sufficient 
strength for the wear of another century. In the consolidated 
chancery causes, Pratt vs. Law, etc., is a schedule prepared by 
Mr. Clotworthy Stephenson of Law's improvements on and 
adjacent to New Jersey Avenue with description and valuation 
thereof. All were completed about the year 1800. On the 
map in Moore and Jones' Traveller's Directory, 1802, *the city 
buildings are seen at a glance and Mr. Law's appear to com- 
prise a considerable proportion of all. 

At the sale of lots by the city Commissioners those on the 
river between the Arsenal and Navy Yard were the most eagerly 
sought and commanded the highest consideration. The specu- 
lators, evidently thought the commercial advantages of this 
water front would cause the squares near by to be first utilized. 
Of the large investors Mr. Greenleaf and Mr. Law were of 
the same opinion and the former selected the vicinity of the 
Arsenal for his solid blocks while the latter New Jersey Avenue, 
positionally the artery of that section. 

Mr. Law's fortune when he came to America was about 
,£50,000; to this is to be added ^31,000 William Blane of 
London entrusted him with to invest, making the entire fund 
$400,000. Blane was to have a sixth share in the investments 
in which they were mutually concerned. Mr. Law's account 
in his own handwriting with Mr. Blane, much mutilated, is in 
the chancery cause, Law vs. Adams. The Auditor says it is 
fair and excuses its faults "occurring in the multiplicity of 
Mr. Law's transactions and embarrassments, pecuniary and 
domestic, as well as from his known habit of forgetfulness." 
That Law did his utmost to save his friend from loss appears 
by a declaration on the land records, July 17, 1823, and this 
provision in his will: "To my friend Wm. Blane of London 
****** j gj ve anc j bequeath all the remainder of my 
property to him and his heirs forever, after paying all debts 
and the bequests herein devised. My heirs will not be dis- 
pleased by my attentions to Mr, Blane. He has an amiable 

* S. S. Moore and S. W. Jones' Travellers,'' Dhectory or a Pocket Companion from 
Philadelphia to New York and from Philadelphia to Washington. Philadelphia, 1802. 



THOMAS LAW- 



family, and has been unfortunate with me in the city purchase 
and as he is the only one who has lost by me, I am anxious 
that he should not be a sufferer." 

And it is a fact, Blane was the only one who lost through 
Law. Law was never insolvent, although in his latter years 
in dire distress for cash. His estate was closed before the Civil 
War. His realty was disposed of at prices which would be 
considered ridiculous now, yet it yielded $175,000. His minor 
creditors were settled with at once and his larger ones and 
legatees received principal with 130% additional, accumulated 
interest. 

The treatise on India, already mentioned, shows Mr. Law's 
interest in the sugar industry and to promote it he conveyed 
to James Piercy the south half of Square 744 with the stipulation 
that Piercy was to erect a sugar refinery thereon of prescribed 
dimensions in certain time. Piercy executed a first mortgage 
to Law for the entire purchase money ,£1860 6s 8/>., and a 
second mortgage to secure Law ,£1875 and James Ray ^937 
10s., advances in cash, and Daniel Carroll of Duddington, 
^1218 15s., the value of 500,000 brick. Additional advances 
by Law, Ray and others in large amounts to the sugar refiner 
indicate the project was on a large scale. It was the first manu- 
facturing enterprise in the city of Washington and the largest. 
The sugar came from the West Indies. The Sugar House was 
at the southeast corner of Square 744, fronting river and canal; 
the main building was eight stories high and the wing five. 
These dimensions are from Stephenson's schedule in the early 
chancery causes. Fortunately the refinery is pictured; it is 
prominent in the view of the City of Washington, from beyond 
the Navy Yard, published by Lewis P. Clover, New York, 
1834. There is exact agreement between picture and descrip- 
tion in the schedule. The structure disappeared in 1847. 

Law, Ray and Piercy, the three sugar principals, all went 
into chancery; each on his own hook filed a bill against the 
co-promoters. Ray accused Law of everything on the calendar 
of crime but gave him credit for an adroit move. Law, in the 
land of his birth, experienced the uncertainties and vexatious 
delays of litigation, so when he sued Ray, he took the precaution ' 




MR. LAW'S RESIDENCE 
NEW JERSEY AVENUE AND C STREET SOUTHEAST 



25 THOMAS LAW 

to have his adversary on a " pretended '' demand safely and 
snugly in a Baltimore jail, so he could not possibly appear and 
answer, which Ray claimed was "a sinister advantage." 

The house in which Mr. Law lived was judicially fixed in the 
chancery cause — Law vs. Adams. It is located on New Jersey 
Avenue, near the intersection with C Street Southeast, and 
was built by Mr. Law, surely by and probably before, 1799. 
This was the home of Law in the heyday of prosperity. Here 
he with inborn ease and grace his elegant and munificent hospi- 
tality bestowed upon diplomat, statesman and savant; and 
Mrs. Law, when she was mistress of the mansion, charming 
and vivacious, wore the laurels of social triumph. Likely, it 
was at this house of Mr. and Mrs. Law, they, in the spring of 
1797, received Louis Philippe and his two brothers and enter- 
tained the Princes with a splendor befitting royalty. And here, 
too, after his retirement, visited General and Mrs. Washington. 

Mr. Law, sold in 1818, the mansion to Dr. Frederick May, 
who lived in it, as did the Doctor's sons; John F. a noted local 
physician and Henry who became a prominent lawyer of 
Baltimore. The late Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General 
during the Civil War, acquired the property in 1857, and from 
that date until his death, of recent occurrence, occupied it. 

Law is more called to mind in this generation by the sub- 
stantial building at the Northwest corner of New Jersey 
Avenue and C Street, Southeast, than by any other structure. 
Originally three residences, they were connected and leased by 
the United States Government for the Coast Survey and other 
branches of the service. Then it was remodeled for a hotel 
and styled the Law House. Now it is the Varnum. 

Mr. Law took no prominent part in the local government, 
however, his son, John, was a member of the Eighth Council, 
first Chamber, 1809; his son Edmund, was a member of the 
Common Council, Tenth Council, 1812; Eleventh Council, 1813; 
Twelfth Council, 1814; and his grandson, Edmund, of the 
Common Council, Twenty-third Council, 1825, and Twenty- 
sixth Council, 1828. 

Mr. Law maintained a close correspondence with his family 
in England, and visited it in 1802, 1825 and 1830. 



THOMAS LAW- 



Mr. Faux {Memorable Days in America — 1823} thus 
describes Mr. Law's appearance and characteristics : 

Mr. Law is kind, agreeable and benevolent to all. In his personal appearance 
he is small, lean, withered and rustic. His nose, however, is noble, like Lord 
Ellenborough's, but his mind is perhaps nobler than that of any of the family, 
although he lives in greater simplicity than a country squire of England. 

Mr. Law talks in an oratorical manner, and with an energy of action which 
makes him appear much in earnest. He is full to overflowing and quite inex- 
haustible. He writes with great velocity. 

Mr. Law's politeness, perhaps, cannot better be illustrated 
than to disclose with what grace he could invest so formal an 
instrument as a bill of exchange. 

Exchange for \ To the Right Revd George Law, 

^250. J Bishop of Bath and Wells, London. 

My Lord, 

At sight pay to the order of Messrs. Hottenquer & Co. at the Banking House 
of Messrs. Jones, Loyd & Co., London, Two hundred and fifty pounds, & 

charge to % of 

Yr Obt Servt, 

Paris, 4th April, 1831. THOMAS LAW. 

Law's absentmindedness was proverbial. Anecdotes thereof 
are numerous in the memories of the oldest inhabitants. The 
sudden request for his name would frequently drive it from his 
recall. He was mistrustful of his freakish memory and tried 
to guard from the likely slip. It is a family reminiscence that 
if in his wakeful moments he had an inspiration he would 
hastily wrap himself in a blanket and wildly rush about, 
exclaiming: "Pen and ink, pen and ink, an idea, I have an 
idea, quick! " 

"Nemo," in his Rambles, says a gentleman then living 
(1883), related that he met Law, who inquired his destination. 
He replied: "I am on my way to 'The Retreat' (Law's 
country residence* beyond the Eastern Branch) to dine with 
other invited friends this very hour." He added: "Law's 
genial wit, that flowed with his wine, made his guests forget 
the hasty preparation of the forgotten dinner. " Law's narrowed 
means never diminished his hospitable disposition. 



* Mansion described in Faux's Memorable Days in America. 



-THOMAS LAW 



Washington, Tuesday May 23, 1820. 

Such a splash as we had at Mr. Law's yesterday ! Near a hundred gentlemen ; 
all the farmers of Prince George's county for many miles around, and all the 
gentry from Washington. And no more ceremony, and quite as much festivity 
and playfulness as among a flock of children just broke loose from school. 
Anthrobus, with his white horse rearing up perpendicularly half a dozen times, 
from impatience to start ; and his English servant, to be even with his master, 
dancing off, in short jumps, for about forty yards, then giving whip and spur 
and dashing through Mr. Law's clover field like a thunderbolt, to get to the 
gate before his master, who was driving at the rate of twelve miles an hour ! 
Then, such a rattling of carriages and clattering of horses' hoofs ! But first, 
such a dinner ! But before that such fine punch, down at the spring beyond 
the pavilion, on the hill in the woods. Then, such excellent songs after dinner! 
Graff has a Dutch parody on Jessie of Dumblane, which is admirable. The 
President laughed 'til he cried, and 1 believe would have danced if a fiddle 
had struck up. The good man sat at table'beating time with his fork to the 
songs sung by Graff and others, with all the kindness and amiability of his 
nature. 

Mr. Law delivered a great speech. It was a meeting of the Agricultural 
Society, but the speech was over before I got there. On asking Mr. Adams for 
an account of it, he said "it was a love song about murder; in other words, an 
agricultural speech in praise of manufactures." Quite in his style! eccentric 
poetry interlarded with * * * In short, it is not possible to conceive of a 
more agreeable country party than it was — so far as agreeableness can exist 

without ladies. Your affectionate father, 

WM. WIRT. 
To Laura H. Wirt. 

Mr. Law disclaimed atheistical tenets and declined church 
authority. He says: "I have always been an advocate for 
permitting men to pursue their interests unobstructed by gov- 
ernmental interference, according to the suggestions of their 
reason, and to seek salvation according to the dictates of their 
own conscience." His guide was the moral sense or the 
divinity within. Yet inconsistent with his avowed ideas, he 
did attend the Unitarian Church and generously support it. 

In a single issue of the Daily National Intelligencer. 
Saturday, October 5, 1822. 

THOMAS LA W. 

REVENUE. 

********* 

I am almost tired by unheeded quotations and Cassandrian firewarnings. If 

our own experience, if facts from other nations, and if mathematical conclusions, 

are unable to rouse the lethargic neither will the voice of one risen from the dead. 

Sickness and sorrow are all around me, and I scrawl this in a slight fever — 

perhaps it is my last. 

HOMO. 



THOMAS LAW- 



JOHN LA IV. 

The friends of the late John Law, Esq.,* (who departed this life last night at 
10 o'clock) are requested to attend his funeral this afternoon, at 4 o'clock, from 
his late residence on Pennsylvania Avenue. 

EDMUND LAW. 
Edmund Law was chosen President of the Legislative Council, (Pensacola, 
Florida) the session of which was to have terminated on the 22d of last month. 

Mr. Law survived all his children, the two sons, natives of 
India, and the equally beloved daughter born in the Capital 
City. Eliza died August 7, 1822, f John, October 4, 1822, and 
Edmund about 1823, all untimely. Like the father, the child- 
ren were intellectual and kindly hearted. John and Edmund 
were both interested in governmental affairs ; John at the time 
of his death was President of the local Board of Aldermen, 
and Edmund the Legislative Council of Pensacola, Florida. 
John was a talented lawyer. 

Mr. Law's strong constitution finally succumbed to the effect 
of Asiatic residence. In the latter years his hand was tremu- 
lous and his form bent. His distress and disease was increased 
by embarassment, more, as he was deeply sympathetic, by 
broken ties and wifely privation. His mind, was not impaired 
when he drew his will within two years of his death, as 
the phraseology indicates, and perhaps he retained his intel- 
lectual vigor until the end. During the last year he required 
a constant attendant. After an illness of ten days, July 31, 
1834, at 6 o'clock in the morning, Thomas Law died. His 
friends and acquaintances were invited to attend the funeral 
from his late residence on Capitol Hill at four oxlock in 
the afternoon of the day following. He was buried in the 
St. John's graveyard (square 276); the remains were removed 
to Rock Creek Cemetery, and there repose with "the un- 
known." 

I have recorded dry detail and refrained from the glamour of 
humor. I have adhered to a sketch and only imparted a sug- 
gestion of the erudition and experience of him of whom it 
v/as said : " His worth is not one-tenth of it known." 



♦Obituaries in Daily National Intelligencer: October 7, 22, November 21, 1822. 
•(■Obituary in the National Intelligencer. August 14, 1822. 



29 THOMAS LAW 



Law's life was a success. Brick and stone are monuments 
of his usefulness. His gentle words and kindly deeds have 
made imperishable impress. No tablet marks his resting place. 
Though his grave is unknown, his fame will not fade away. 

Time ! thou destroyest the relics of the past, 
And hidest all the footprints of thy march 
On shatter'd column and on crumbled arch, 

By moss and ivy growing green and fast. 
******* 

Yet triumph not, O Time, strong towers decay, 
But a great name shall never pass away. 




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